It is now traditional for the Doctor to entertain us on Christmas Day - and for Doctor Who News to run its Christmas Ratings Competition!



This year, The Snowmen will be broadcast at 5:15pm, and will be facing ITV1's New You've Been Framed (5:00pm), Emmerdale (5:30pm), and Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs (6:00pm). Other programmes include films The Fellowship of the Ring (Channel 4 from 5:40pm) and The Santa Incident (Channel 5 from 5:25pm), and a documentary Sister Wendy and the Art of the Gospel (BBC2, from 5:25pm).

The Prize:

We are delighted to be able to invite the winner to a recording of a Big Finish audio adventure - the recording, which will feature Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, will take place on 21st January 2013 (see terms and conditions below).

An alternative prize will be available to the winner should they be unable to attend the recording.

Entering The Competition:

To enter the competition, please send the following details to xmas-competition@doctorwhonews.net:

• Your name and email address
• Your country (full address will only be requested if you are a winner)
• An alternative contact number (in case we cannot reach you through email)
• Confirmation of being able to attend the Big Finish recording (see terms and conditions)
• Where you read about this competition
• And of course ... your guess for the final viewing figure!

Previous Ratings / Current Odds:

For comparison, the ratings for the previous Christmas Day episodes in recent years are as follows: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (10.77m), A Christmas Carol (12.11m), The End Of Time: Part One (12.04m), The Next Doctor (13.10m), Voyage of the Damned (13.31m), The Runaway Bride (9.30m), The Christmas Invasion (9.84m).

The Snowmen is currently considered to be the second-most favourite to top the Christmas TV ratings, according to William Hill. Odds given at the time of writing are 4/1 (up from 5/1 earlier in the week), with the runaway favourite being EastEnders at 1/2. Downton Abbey is third at 5/1, with the other major soap Coronation Street at 8/1. Other shows expected to do well are The Royle Family (10/1) and Call the Midwife (14/1). For the ITV1 programmes in direct opposition to Doctor Who, New You've Been Framed is 100/1, Emmerdale is 40/1, and Paul O'Grady is 50/1.

Terms And Conditions:

• The competition closes at 6:15pm, 25th December 2012
• Only one entry will be accepted per person.
• The competition is open worldwide - however, please note Big Finish details below.
• BARB figures are expected in early January; we will contact the winner once they have been published.
• In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen from random from out of our fez.
  
  
• The Big Finish recording will take place at their studio near Hammersmith, London - however, travel and accommodation is not included. You must confirm in your competition entry whether you are able to attend the recording or not - an alternative prize will be offered instead should you be a winner.
• Entrants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
• If you do confirm you will be attending, you are also agreeing to keep the confidentiality of any plot details or other information unveiled by Big Finish or the cast.

BBC America have released a new trailer for The Snowmen, featuring a number of different clips to the original that aired on BBC One this week:

The Graham Norton Show:

BBC America have also announced that the festive edition of The Graham Norton Show that will feature Matt Smith as a guest will be broadcast immediately after The Snowmen has aired on Christmas Day. The episode will have its premiere in the United Kingdom on Friday 21st December at 10:35pm, with Matt sharing the sofa alongside comedians Billy Connolly and Jennifer Saunders, and award-winning movie star Dustin Hoffman.

The US broadcaster SyFy are to show the entire first series of K-9 on Christmas Day.

The mammoth run kicks off with Regeneration from 10:00am ET, followed by every episode back-to-back in half-hour intervals leading up to the series finale, Eclipse Of The Korven, from 10:30pm ET.

The press release follows below:

The new edition of Doctor Who Adventures has a 2013 calendar among its free gifts.

Also being given away with issue 299 - published today - are a bow tie, a pack of Doctor Who Monster Invasion cards, stickers, plus a mystery gift.

This week's magazine is a double issue, taking readers through to Thursday 27th December. Among its contents:

BBC Books have announced the release of a second Doctor Who ebook. The story, written by Justin Richards, is set prior to the events of this year’s Christmas special, The Snowmen, and features Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

BBC Books’ second digital-only Doctor Who adventure (the first being The Angel's Kiss) will be published on 18 December 2012.

BBC America is to broadcast a special programme on the 21st December to look at the Top Five of several favourite Doctor Who topics:


The Doctor Who Ultimate List of Lists is a show in the channel's The Brit List series, which explores the shared British and American pop-culture.

The Entertainment Memorabilia auction held at Bonhams in London yesterday saw items from Doctor Who and its spin-off series fetch thousands of pounds, with the star item being the Nissan Figaro driven by Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures going for £6,000 - the top end of its estimate.

Various costumes and props from Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Torchwood went under the hammer but not everything was sold. A TARDIS exterior panel, listed as having been supplied by the BBC to the firm that made the title sequence for Sylvester McCoy's inaugural series as the Doctor, was withdrawn from the auction, having had an estimate of £400-500, and autographed scripts from Revelation of the Daleks, which had an estimate of £500-600, failed to sell.

The auction was held at Bonhams' Knightsbridge saleroom.

Full results of related auction items - sale price includes premium (estimate in brackets):

Lot	Description	Sold for (£)
118	Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. poster	625 (500-700)
143	Planet of the Spiders original scripts	875 (1,200-1,500)
144	SV7 costume from The Robots of Death	2,500 (2,000-3,000)
145	Revelation of the Daleks autographed scripts for episodes 1 and 2	Failed to sell (500-600)
146	Remembrance of the Daleks autographed OB schedule	187 (250-300)
148	Foam shark model from A Christmas Carol	875 (1,000-1,500)
150	TW: Scale corpse model from Countrycide	250 (200-300)
151	TW: Captain Jack Harkness's coat	2,125 (700-900)
152	TW: Jack's safe door	312 (500-700)
153	TW: Jack's bedroom hatch door	250 (300-400)
154	TW: Martha Jones' costume from Reset	625 (300-500)
155	TW: Gwen Cooper's costume from Meat	312 (500-700)
156	SJA: Sarah's costume from Invasion of the Bane	1,250 (500-600)
157	SJA: Two "Slab" costumes from Warriors of Kudlak	350 (250-300)
158	SJA: Eve's costume from The Mad Woman in the Attic	250 (200-250)
159	SJA: Androvax costume from Prisoner of the Judoon and The Vault of Secrets	450 (300-400)
160	SJA: Clyde Langer costumes (15)	500 (350-400)
161	SJA: Shansheeth part costume from Death of the Doctor	687 (250-300)
162	SJA: Two Mister Dread costumes from The Vault of Secrets	200 (250-300)
163	SJA: Sarah's car (1991 Nissan Figaro two-door Targa Coupe)	6,000 (4,000-6,000)

Bernard Cribbins is a firm supporter of the Surviving Winter campaign, which aims to help reduce isolation and vulnerability for older people. The actor said: "I am 100 per cent behind the campaign and delighted to be supporting it. I am going to donate my winter fuel allowance to support others in Surrey that need additional help during the winter. I encourage others who don't need their allowance to do the same." [Camberley People, 4 Dec 2012]

Having hung up his Merlin breeches, Colin Morgan has no plans to return to Doctor Who: "Well, that box has already been ticked, but I feel very lucky to have been part of that. It was my first filming job really, so it was a great thing to be a part of, but in terms of the future? Probably not." And as the Doctor? "No, I don’t think so!" [Radio Times, 3 Dec 2012]

Matt Smith played host to a fund-raising dinner for the National Youth Theatre on Monday 3rd December; the event, A Shepherd's Delight, was held at The Shepherd's Restaurant in Belgravia. Smith became a patron of the NYT in July. [Daily Mail, 4 Dec 2012]

Karen Gillan, back home in Inverness for Christmas, was invited to present a UNICEF Baby Friendly Award to NHS Highland maternity staff at the city's Raigmore Hospital; the award was in recognition of the education and support they have given to breastfeeding mothers. The actress said: "I knew very little about the benefits of breastfeeding until now. But I am definitely a convert. I have no plans to start a family – I have to find a boyfriend first. It is too early for me to settle down but when I do get broody, I will be following the breast is best advice. I have learned so much here, it has been great research if I have to audition for a nursing or midwife role in the future." [Daily Record, 12 Dec 2012]

David Tennant is to perform festive duties on the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show this Christmas, and also portray the Virgin Mary in the celebrity nativity play due to be broadcast on 21st December. The presenter said: "David Tennant fans are going to really enjoy seeing his masculine Scottish jaw-line peeking out from under a head-scarf with me on his arm. He’ll need to draw on all his luvvie training to avoid being out-acted by me and Wrighty on the day." The actor has had a long association with O'Connell: he performed in another panto alongside Brian Blessed back in 2006, and has co-hosted the show in the past, too (2009, 2011); O'Connell was also a guest at the actor's wedding last year. [Radio Today, 12 Dec 2012]

Big Finish producer Nicholas Briggs talks about working with the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker: "Tom's an interesting one, really. All the stories you've heard about him being aggressive about scripts - he's mellowed a lot in his old age, but you do occasionally get a little flash of the old Tom Baker. He can be quite savage to a Director! ...He was suggesting something, you know, to the nth time, and it was quite a crazy suggestion. I said, 'OK Tom, I'm gonna go with that,' and he just said, 'Oh, Nick! I can't tell how happy it makes me when you accept one of my suggestions!" He sounded very moved... he said, 'I was rewriting my will this weekend, and I put something in it for you!' [Chicago Now, 3rd Dec 2012]

Sylvester McCoy talks about almost being Bilbo The Lord of the Rings, and how he came to play Radagast in The Hobbit: "It got down to two actors eventually from quite a few, and I was one of them. Of course the other was the great and glorious Ian Holm. I was a bit disappointed, but I was also quite pleased to be in such great company. So they knew me from that, and so as luck would have it, I was touring with Ian McKellen in King Lear, playing the fool to his king, and we went to New Zealand. And they knew me before, but they were reminded of me again, and they saw Ian and I working on the stage together. I think they must have quite liked that." [LA Times, 3 Dec 2012]

It has been announced that Russell T Davies married his long-term partner Andrew Smith during the course of last week. The couple moved back to the United Kingdom last year so that they could be closer to friends and family after Andrew was diagnosed with cancer. [Anglotopia, 7 Dec 2012]

Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli talks about his love of Doctor Who: "I am absolutely addicted - in fact I dedicated a chapter of my autobiography (to it). When I first came to the UK I didn't understand English at all, so the first show I watched on TV was Doctor Who because you could follow the story and understand it without understanding the language. And I've been addicted since, it gets better and better and better. Unmissable! I am desperate to be in it - I'd pay for it!" [The One Show, 11 Dec 2012]

Former MP Louise Mensch is one of the contributors to the new book, Behind The Sofa: "I always had a sneaking suspicion that everyone in the world loves Doctor Who - well, now I have concrete proof. If I could get all the famous names who contributed to this book into one room, I think it would be the maddest convention ever. Until then, their favourite memories of the programme are preserved for all to see. Plus, everyone who buys a copy will be helping to give hope to the 820,000 people in the UK living with dementia today." [Telegraph, 3 Dec 2012]

The BBC have now released a new trailer for this Christmas's episode, The Snowmen.

Doctor Who Magazine have confirmed that the current series of Doctor Who will return to BBC One in April next year, though it is too early for a specific date and time to be revealed.

Though a series (and specials) of Doctor Who will often premiere on an Easter Weekend, this isn't always the case, and next year Easter Sunday falls on 31st March 2013.


Meanwhile, we still have Doctor Who's Christmas Special The Snowmen to look forward to in less than two weeks